Wedensday Sketch

I sat outside and ate my lunch then grabbed the sketching basket. The sun felt so good on my face and arms, it didn't take long to feel it burning. Happy warmer sunny May days!!! Yippee--Ann--

spring

 Our second day in a row of SPRING!!!! That is something to shout about! I'm off to the green house.--Ann--

On the Needles

I finished socks for oldest son! I'll hang on to them until his birthday next month. They are just a basket weave stitch. I have been using left over yarn to make footies Bunny Hop Pattern because they are quick and they stay up. I love this heel. I rewrote the short row stitch sequence to make it easier for my flighty brain to follow and in doing so I see a pattern to the repeats which makes it even easier to follow, before I moved a marker down the pattern with each row now I can just go back and forth and I'm done in no time. Happy Knitting and linking to Judy's On the Needles.--Ann--

Reading

I have been drawing a blank lately on blogging posts and pics to compliment the words. Its not that I haven't been busy with things but just not blog topic things. Some days, weeks are like that. It continues to be good weather for reading with rain, wind even snow at times. The fireplace is cozy and so are my quilts. My late winter/spring reading:

1. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Buffalo for Broken Heart by Dan O'Brien for book club set in South Dakota non fiction
3. Philomena by Martin Sixsmith I watched the movie on my kindle recently, I liked the movie better than the book because the movie is about Philomena's search for her son. The book has a few chapters about Philomena but is mostly about the son, his feelings of abandonment, unworthiness of being loved and his life style.
4. The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks 
5. The Color of Water James McBride for book club non fiction
6. Wish You Well  David Baldacci for book club This is a story about two children who are being raised by their great-grandmother in the mountains of Virginia, it takes place in the 1940's.
7. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis because it is referenced so frequently
8. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
9. Funeral Food by Kathleen Taylor South Dakota author who also writes knitting books
   
   
   
   
   The book Wish You Well made me think of this tablecloth and apron of my grandmother's. The border on the tablecloth is so cheerful it is stitched to a dish towel, the kind that gets soft with use and really soaks up the water, and has another dish towel for the backing. I imagined Louisa in the story wearing an apron like this. I love the black stitches. Keeping busy while waiting for sunny warm days--Ann--

Design Wall Monday

 Not much change on the design wall since last week except the purchase of more turquoise fabric. How did that happen?!?  This week will be spent in the sewing room rather than the kitchen. And a quilt, Spring Blossoms, out of the cupboard and into the mail. I made this quilt before I started blogging so I'm posting pics.

It's a windy day here. This is just a tri rec star with courthouse step blocks, the top quilt I tweaked the color the others I did not because they really are a soft bunch of pastels, the yellows are buttery, the blues are like the sky on a sunny day if you look just above the horizon or maybe a faded robin's egg blue, the pinks have a hint of coral and the green is leaning toward chartreuse but with a little gray or sage, not the traffic stopping chartreuse of today. I extended the courthouse step blocks into the border with extra cornerstones.  I hope it likes its new home. Check out the quilts at Judy's Design Wall Monday and Stitch by Stitch.--Ann--

On the Needles

  I'm staying home today so can post an On the Needles.  I tried on my wavy cable socks with the Blossom Street yarn with 20% angora fiber that feels oh so wonderful in my hand..........there wasn't enough stretch in the cables to get it over my heel. I should have guessed that might be a problem when the sock started sucking in when I started the cable pattern. I rewound the remaining yarn so I could pull from the inside and rather than unravel the sock now I stuck the ball in the leg of the sock so when I am in the mood for this yarn again I can unravel as I re knit the socks in a different pattern. The angora fiber mats so any pattern might be lost after washing. A twofer special the fun of knitting two pairs of socks from one skein of yarn.

 A couple finishes in the last couple weeks. Both stitch patterns in finished socks have a lot of stretch. and the clogs are ready for the washer and several spins through the dryer.

 I'm also working on  socks for oldest son. Every time I see him he has on hand knit socks, he'll keep getting more. These are a  three row repeat of a 2x2 basket weave with  a plain knit row between the 3 rows. This is a Kroy yarn. check out the happy knitters at Judy's On the Needles. Will spring ever come??~~Ann~~

snow and quilt

Yesterday it was kinda dark in the house since it was snowing outside, yes still snowing in April. I thought taking pics of quilts in the snow would be a good idea........so I gather the quilts and camera and put on outdoor shoes. I'm gingerly stepping down the steps and whoosh I'm on my fannie on the middle step. Good thing its well padded. I gather my dignity and firmly plant my feet on the patio and pull myself to an upright position. No sense in wasting the effort I spread this quilt on the snowy ground and snap a couple photos. The color is so much brighter in natural light. There was a bit of a hill in the center of the star as is so common with six and eight point stars with bias edges.  Okay I admit it was a mountain but as my friend Bev always said no baby is going to cry over that. I did a lot of patting as I layered the quilt and more as I quilted it and once through the washer and dryer (and isn't it wonderful that cotton still shrinks) a multitude of infractions were diminished. I picked up the quilt, shook off the snow wrapped the camera strap around my arm and padded it with the quilt then turned around and looked at the steps. The other doors to the house were all locked so I had to go back the way I came. Nothing gingerly about the trip up the stairs I stepped in snow over my ankles and plodded up the steps. Safely inside I took off my shoes and changed socks. Only one quilt got the Senior-pics-outdoor-photo-special.  Mailing it will wait 'til the snow is gone. --Ann--